ARTOKLASIA – THE BLESSING OF BREAD

The Blessing of Five Loaves of Bread is a brief service of thanksgiving through which we express our gratitude for all the blessings of life. Oil, wine, wheat, and the loaves of bread which are used in the service, are viewed as the most basic elements necessary for life. The Blessing reminds us of the miracle of the multiplication of the bread and fish by which Christ fed the multitude. This Blessing is usually offered during Vespers or after the Divine Liturgy on Feast days and other special occasions. After the Service, the bread is cut and distributed to the congregation.

If you would like to offer an Artoklasia, please contact the church office at: 773.626.3114 or email: office@assumptionchicago.org to reserve a date.

GIFT OF LIGHT

Please give the “Gift of Light” to Assumption Panagia’s Church. We need a family or an individual to sponsor, per week, the lighting of our vigil lamps and candles in both of our holy Altars of Panagia and Saint Catherine. This includes the daily lighting of both of our Holy Altars throughout the week. Suggested donation for this ministry is $100.00. Through our Church’s Website, sign up can be made through our Tithe.ly platform. simply click on the big green GIVE button, request your week and make your donation. Please contact the church office to sponsor a week for the health and well-being of your family or in loving memory of a loved one.

Word about Cremation - Orthodox Christians should reject cremation, in accordance with the Church’s teachings about the sanctity of the human body and its role in our salvation. Orthodox Christians believe that in the General Resurrection, our bodies and souls will be restored to each other. Cremation is the deliberate desecration and destruction of what God has made and is viewed as the denial of the Resurrection. Cremation treats the body violently, without the respect due to it as the temple of the Holy Spirit. Those who voluntarily request cremation upon death will not receive an Orthodox funeral, either in the church, or the funeral home or any other place. Memorial services with kolyva are not allowed since the connection of the “kernel of wheat” as a sign of the Resurrection has been intentionally destroyed. It is an honor for Orthodox Christians to have a church funeral - our salvation and the state of our souls and bodies should always be at the forefront in our lives and for the lives of our loved ones.

2026 STEWARDSHIP

Stewardship packets have been mailed out and are also available on the Pangari in the Narthex. Please fill out the pledge card (it is important that you enter a pledge amount) and the information card completely and return it back in the enclosed envelope. Thank you for supporting our beautiful parish of Panagia!

LET’S STAY IN TOUCH - If you would like to receive information about services, activities and events that are happening at our church, please visit our website at: assumptionchicago.org to sign up or call the church office and submit your email address.

SUNDAY OF ALL SAINTS

Honouring the friends of God with much reverence, the Prophet-King David says, "But to me, exceedingly honourable are Thy friends, O Lord" (Ps. 138:16). And the divine Apostle, recounting the achievements of the Saints, and setting forth their memorial as an example that we might turn away from earthly things and from sin, and emulate their patience and courage in the struggles for virtue, says, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every burden, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12:1). This commemoration began as the Sunday (Synaxis) of All Martyrs; to them were added all the ranks of Saints who bore witness (the meaning of "Martyr" in Greek) to Christ in manifold ways, even if occasion did not require the shedding of their blood. Therefore, guided by the teaching of the Divine Scriptures and Apostolic Tradition, we the pious honour all the Saints, the friends of God, for they are keepers of God's commandments, shining examples of virtue, and benefactors of mankind. Of course, we honour the known Saints especially on their own day of the year, as is evident in the Menologion. But since many Saints are unknown, and their number has increased with time, and will continue to increase until the end of time, the Church has appointed that once a year a common commemoration be made of all the Saints. This is the feast that we celebrate today. It is the harvest of the coming of the Holy Spirit into the world; it is the "much fruit" brought forth by that "Grain of wheat that fell into the earth and died" (John 12:24); it is the glorification of the Saints as "the foundation of the Church, the perfection of the Gospel, they who fulfilled in deed the sayings of the Saviour" (Sunday of All Saints, Doxasticon of Vespers). In this celebration, then, we reverently honour and call blessed all the Righteous, the Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Shepherds, Teachers, and Holy Monastics, both men and women alike, known and unknown, who have been added to the choirs of the Saints and shall be added, from the time of Adam until the end of the world, who have been perfected in piety and have glorified God by their holy lives. All these, as well as the orders of the Angels, and especially our most holy Lady and Queen, the Ever-virgin Theotokos Mary, do we honour today, setting their life before us as an example of virtue, and entreating them to intercede in our behalf with God, Whose grace and boundless mercy be with us all. Amen.

Saint Theodotos, Bishop of Ankyra - June 7

This Martyr contested in Ancyra during the reign of Diocletian (284-305), when Theotecnus was Proconsul. After the martyrdom of the virgin Tecusa and her seven companions (the virgins Alexandria, Claudia, Phaeina, Euphrasia, Matrona, Julia, and Theodota; they are celebrated on May 18), Saint Theodotus recovered their holy relics and buried them. For this, he was seized by Theotecnus, tormented, and beheaded.

Saint Melania the Righteous - June 8

Saint Melania was a lady of noble birth, most wealthy and renowned, a descendant of Roman consuls, and of Spanish origin. When her husband and two of her children died, she departed for Egypt to visit the monks living at Mount Nitria. She distributed her wealth to those that were in need there, as well as to the confessors of the Faith who were being persecuted by the Arians. In three days alone, she fed some 5,000. Then, when these Orthodox Christians were exiled to Palestine, she also went to Jerusalem. There, at her own expense, she built a convent for virgins, and reposed therein in holiness about the year 410. Her granddaughter Melania the Younger is celebrated on December 31.

Saints Bartholomew and Barnabas the Holy Apostles - June 11

Saint Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles, and had Galilee as his homeland; this is all that is known of him for certain according to the history of the Gospels. Concerning his apostolic work, certain say that he preached in Arabia and Persia, and especially in India, bringing to them the Gospel written by Saint Matthew, which had been written originally in Hebrew, and which was found there one hundred years later by Pantaenus, formerly a stoic philosopher and later an illustrious teacher of the Christian school in Alexandria (see Eusebius, Eccl. Hist., 5: 10). Other accounts say that he went to Armenia. According to some, he ended his life by being crucified, or by being flayed alive, in Albanopolis (Urbanopolis) of Armenia. This also confirms an ancient tradition preserved by the Armenians. According to some, Bartholomew and Nathanael are the same person, because the Evangelists who mention Bartholomew do not mention Nathanael; and John, who alone mentions Nathanael as one of the Twelve, says nothing of Bartholomew. Indeed, Bartholomew is a patronymic, "son of Talmai," which means "bold, spirited" (see also Jesus of Navi 15:14; II Kings 3:3), and Nathanael could have had this as a surname. According to the Synaxarion of the Menaion on April 22, however, it is Simon the Zealot and Nathanael who are the same; the Evangelists who mention Simon the Zealot (or "the Canaanite") do not mention Nathanael.

Saint Kosmas: What does our Christ instruct us to do? . . .

“What does our Christ instruct us to do? Meditate on our sins, on death, on hell, on paradise, and on our soul, which is more precious than the entire world. We are to eat and drink moderately, similarly, to clothe ourselves moderately, and to use the remaining time for our soul-to make it a bride for our Christ. And then we can call ourselves human beings and earthly angels. But if we concern ourselves with what we shall eat and what we shall drink, how we shall commit sin, how to dress up this stinking body which tomorrow will be eaten by worms, and do not concern ourselves about our soul which is eternal, then we can’t be called human beings, but animals. So make your body a servant of the soul, and then you can call Yourselves human beings.”

+Saint Kosmas Aitolos, The Life of St. Kosmas Aitolos Together with an English Translation of His Teaching and Letters

ΟΙ ΑΓΙΟΙ ΠΑΝΤΕΣ - ΟΙ ΜΙΜΗΤΕΣ ΤΟΥ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥ - 7 Ιουνίου

Μεγάλη και θαυμαστή είναι η σημερινή ομήγυρη των Αγίων. Προπάτορες και Προφήτες, Πατριάρχες και Απόστολοι, Μάρτυρες και Ιεράρχες, Ιερομάρτυρες και Οσιομάρτυρες, Όσιοι και Δίκαιοι, μαζί με τα τάγματα των Αγγέλων, έχοντας στο μέσον την των αγίων Αγίαν, την Υπεραγίαν Δέσποινα Θεοτόκο, ώς αστέρες πολύφωτοι προβάλλουν στο πνευματικό στερέωμα της Εκκλησίας.

Τον κάθε ένα απο τους γνωστούς Αγίους, τιμούμε ειδικά σε κάποια μέρα του χρόνου.

Επειδή όμως πολλοί μας είναι άγνωστοι και ο αριθμός τους πολλαπλασιάστηκε κατά καιρούς, γι’ αυτό η Εκκλησία όρισε, μία συγκεκριμένη κοινή εορτή των γνωστών και των αγνώστων, όλων των Αγίων της Οικουμένης. Έτσι λοιπόν την ημέρα αυτή, τιμάμε με ευλάβεια όλους τους Δικαίους Προφήτες.΄Οσιους, άνδρες και γυναίκες μαζί, γνωστούς και αγνώστους, όσους από τον Αδάμ μέχρι τώρα απεβίωσαν με ευσέβεια και με τα καλά τους έργα δόξασαν τον Θεό. Αυτούς όλους και αυτές επίσης τις στρατιές των Αγγέλων, πρίν απ’ αυτούς δέ και μαζί με όλους την Παναγία Θεοτόκο και αειπαρθένο Μαρία, τιμάμε σήμερα με την παρούσα γιορτή, προβάλλοντας τη ζωή της σαν παράδειγμα αρετής. Και παρακαλούμε όλους αυτούς τους Αγίους να πρεσβεύουν στον Θεό για μάς, προκειμένου η χάρη και το άπειρο έλεός Του, να είναι μαζί με όλους μας.

ΑΡΧΗ ΝΗΣΤΕΙΑΣ - Η ΝΗΣΤΕΙΑ ΤΩΝ ΑΓΙΩΝ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΩΝ

Την Δευτέρα, μετά την Κυριακή των Αγίων Πάντων, αρχίζει η λεγόμενη νηστεία των Αγίων Αποστόλων. Η ύπαρξη αυτής της νηστείας μαρτυρείται από τον Μέγα Αθανάσιο και τις Αποστολικές Διαταγές (30ς – 40ς αι.μ.Χ.), άν και τότε συνδεόταν με την Πεντηκοστή. Κατά τη νηστεία αυτή καταλύουμε ψάρι εκτός φυσικά Τετάρτης και Παρασκευής. Η νηστεία αυτή υπάρχει ώς προετοιμασία για την εορτή των Αγίων Αποστόλων - 29 Ιουνίου - οπότε και τελειώνει. Αν η εορτή τύχει Τετάρτη ή Παρασκευή καταλύουμε ψάρι.

Όσοι πηγαίνουν νώρις στήν έκκλησια, καί μενουν μέχρι τό δ¨έυχων

ό Κύριος στέλνεί Αγγελο καί τούς χρίει στό μέτωπό για τήν καλη τουσ προέρεση.

Ο θυμός δένει τον άνθρωπο βαριές άλησίδες, απο τον θυμο γεννιουνται

kαι αλλα παθη, οπως η οργή κ κραυγή, η βλαστήμια, ή κατάρα, και πολλά αλλα.

Guided by our Orthodox Faith, our Outreach Ministry embraces a divine calling to serve and uplift the Assumption and surrounding Austin community in the spirit of Christ's love and transformative power. Our mission is to be a beacon of light providing hope and love by extending a helping hand to those in need. Through various outreach initiatives, including providing meals and clothes, compassion, love, prayer and essential human support, we strive to make a positive impact on the lives of individuals and families. Our Assumption Church serves as a platform to share our commitment to community service, foster connections, and inspire others to join us on this sacred journey of service in creating a more compassionate and thriving community for all.

For volunteer work, donating food and clothes, sponsorship, please contact us at: outreach@assumptionchicago.org

Check out our work at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/141235211@N07/albums/

To access our Facebook page, please visit our website at assumptionchicago.org and click on the Facebook link as shown in the picture above.